France Secures 3-1 Victory Over Senegal as Mbappé Makes History

Didier Deschamps walked down the tunnel at half-time with problems to solve. He walked back out with a plan that tilted France’s opening World Cup game on its axis.

A tight, anxious contest against a sharp Senegal side finished 3-1 to Les Bleus, but the scoreline tells only part of it. The turning point came in the dressing room. Deschamps adjusted, France accelerated, and Kylian Mbappé did what Kylian Mbappé now does as a matter of routine: he rewrote a record.

The forward struck twice after the interval, his brace lifting him to 58 goals for his country and making him France’s all-time leading scorer. It is an extraordinary number for a player still very much in his prime, and it arrived on a night when his team badly needed a finisher with a ruthless edge.

Senegal had asked questions early, snapping into duels and breaking with intent. France, ponderous at times, struggled to find their rhythm. The European champions looked more vulnerable than they would ever care to admit in an opening game.

Then the tactical shift landed. Deschamps tweaked his shape, sharpened the press and freed Mbappé higher up the pitch. The effect was immediate. France started to pin Senegal back, the passing grew crisper, and the chances came in waves. The pressure finally told, and once Mbappé found his range, Senegal’s resistance began to fray.

By the final whistle, France had their 3-1 win and, with it, a platform. It was not flawless, but it was controlled when it mattered, and it underlined once again that when Mbappé senses a record, he rarely misses.

Argentina's Performance

While France were grinding, Argentina were gliding.

Lionel Messi produced a hat-trick against Algeria, a performance that felt less like a group-stage outing and more like a personal statement. Every touch carried intent, every run a sense of inevitability. Algeria never found a way to slow him; few teams ever do when he drifts into this kind of mood.

Three goals, another match bent to his will, and a familiar ripple across the tournament: when Messi starts like this, everyone else looks over their shoulder.

One of those glances will come from Cristiano Ronaldo. His Portugal side face DR Congo on Wednesday, stepping into a World Cup already lit up by Mbappé’s records and Messi’s hat-trick. The stage is set, the standard has been set even higher.

Now the question hangs in the air: how will Ronaldo answer?